In 1996, when Ralph and Kimberlie Cole bought 100 acres on the scenic Cumberland Plateau in eastern Tennessee, neither of them knew a thing about farming. At the time, they were drawing their paychecks in Oak Ridge, some 45 miles away, where Ralph oversaw a lab that studied soil contamination and Kimberlie worked to minimize pollution for the Department of Energy. But the two scientists shared a nagging desire to lead more self-sufficient lives. “We became aware of how much we had to work to buy the products we needed,” says Kimberlie, “and we decided we could produce more of our own things and not be such consumers.”